Although schooling in English (and other languages) is available, expats who move to the Netherlands with children may decide to enrol them in an education programme where they learn Dutch.

Learning the local language helps with integration, and there is evidence that children raised bilingually have much to gain from the experience; more than just the ability to communicate in two languages.

But expat parents—particularly of older children—may be concerned about their child’s progress with learning the Dutch language, especially if they are required to attain a certain level of Dutch to go further in school. The general consensus is that older children do not 'absorb’ new languages through exposure as readily as their younger counterparts.

To anxious parents, the advice of people who have experienced similar situations is invaluable and thankfully many of them are only too happy to offer it.

When one secondary school teacher expressed concern about a native English-speaking pupil in her Dutch class's ability to pass his exam, she found the community of English-language professionals in the Netherlands were quick to share their experiences.

The pupil—a 12-year-old boy, newly arrived from the UK—is following tweetalig (bilingual) VWO so most of his lessons are in English, and is otherwise managing fine in school. The teacher’s concern was that he would need more support in learning the language than the extra help given in class in order to pass his Dutch exam and move on to the year above.

What advice should she give to her pupil—or rather his mother—about how to improve his Dutch? We present a summary of the many, varied responses to her query, as useful advice for expat parents in the same situation.

One parent suggested enquiring whether the school offers anything like the schakelklassen—classes for children with no Dutch skills, such as newly arrived expats—that their son’s school offers, starting with a `crash course’ in a class of around 12. Their 13-year-old son is also following tweetalig onderwijs (bilingual education) or TTO.

Another commentator, however, suggested moving the boy from TTO into a normal Dutch-spoken learning environment, as the fastest way to improve his Dutch. Immersion is the key to language learning, they insisted, and pointed out that tweetalig VWO was intended for Dutch students to get some immersion in English, rather than for foreign students who already speak English. A child intelligent enough to study at the VWO level can master Dutch within a year—if immersed in the language—they believe, citing their own experience of emigrating to the US at age 13 knowing hardly a word of English.

The most resounding advice was for the boy to use the Dutch he is learning outside school. Falling in love with a Dutch girl who speaks little English would be ideal, one contributor cheerfully noted, but in the absence of romance, there are plenty of alternatives. Joining an environment, such as a church or sports club, in which he is forced to use his Dutch will speed up his learning, simply because he will want to communicate with his peers and will try harder.

This worked for one expat who, as a child, lived in a small English-speaking expat 'colony’ in Germany and only really began learning German when he joined the local youth football club, where half the boys spoke no English and the coach made no exception for him.

To pass his Dutch exam, on the other hand, this 12-year-old will have to learn about grammar and spelling; something harder to pick up on the playing field. Other suggestions were to watch television and pay attention to the Dutch subtitles or dubbing, and to read books that he is familiar with in English,in the Dutch language.

The general consensus was that private tuition was not the way to go, though one person shared their experience of having private lessons three times a week at 13 years, not only to learn the language but also subjects such as Dutch history and geography. At that age, despite being in a Dutch-speaking environment, they believe they were too old to have learned Dutch by simply absorbing it.

They noted, however, that nowadays private tuition is by no means the only option in such a case, with alternatives like public inburgering courses more widely available; enquire at the local gemeente.

Of course, a little extra swotting outside school—with or without a hired tutor—can’t hurt. Learn the common irregular verbs and basic grammar rules like for het/de, dit/deze etc., and get help learning to pronounce the difficult Dutch sounds.

If failing the school year remains a real possibility, when only his Dutch is the problem, one final suggestion was that the parents talk with the school authorities about their son’s situation and ask for consideration and leniency, so that he is given time to catch up on learning Dutch without being held back a whole year unnecessarily.

But on the positive side, it was pointed out that the boy is still very new to Dutch and has two thirds of the school year ahead of him in which to learn and improve: much can change for the better before the requisite exam!

Source: This article was reproduced, with thanks, from advice originally given on the forum of the Society of English Native-Speaking Editors (SENSE).